My G.o.d, my G.o.d ...

'You can see Jennifer?'

'I've always been able to see her.'

And in that moment he thought that he knew his purpose, the reason for all of the blood and fury, the grief and pain. What was it Ruth Winter had said to him? Sometimes I think we're only put here to watch over our children until they're ready to take care of themselves.

'Sam, I don't-'

'Listen, Daddy. Please. We can't talk about it. We just can't.'

'But why?'

'Because it's not time, not yet.'

She released him, but only so that she could watch him, so that she could put her hands to his face and consider his reaction, and he thought that he had never looked in the eyes of one so beautiful and yet so ancient.

'And because they're listening,' she said, and her tone almost stilled his heart. 'They're always listening. We have to be careful, daddy, because they'll hear. They'll hear, and they'll come ...'

Acknowledgments.

As always, I rely on the goodwill and knowledge of a great many people to make me appear better at what I do than I actually am. Hunting Evil by Guy Walters (Transworld, 2009) proved an invaluable resource in the writing of this book, and a trove of anecdotal and statistical details. Hitler's Furies: German Women in the n.a.z.i Killing Fields by Wendy Lower (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013) was a fascinating insight into the female killers of the n.a.z.i era, while Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World by Michael Lewis (W.W. Norton & Company, 2011) inspired some of Marie Demers's views on elements of national character. The Years of Extermination: n.a.z.i Germany and the Jews, 19391945 by Saul Friedlander (HarperCollins, 2007) became a crucial tool in the crosschecking of information. Meanwhile, United States Attorneys' Bulletin (Vol 54, No 1, January 2006), detailing the work of what was then the Office of Special Investigations, provided much of the background to cases and procedure used in this book. I am also deeply grateful to Eli Rosenbaum, the Director of Human Rights Strategy and Policy at the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section of the Department of Justice for taking the time to answer my questions. I should stress that any opinions expressed in this book are my own. I don't want to make the job of the HRSP any harder than it already is. Thanks, too, to Dr Robert Drummond for his guidance on medical issues, and to Rachel Unterman for checking particular details of the story. Any errors are mine.

I'd be all at sea without my editor at Hodder & Stoughton, Sue Fletcher, and Emily Bestler, my editor at Atria Books/Emily Bestler Books, so my thanks to them both, and to all those at Hodder and Hachette who continue to support my work, including Swati Gamble, Kerry Hood, Carolyn Mays, Lucy Hale, Breda Purdue, Jim Binchy, Ruth Shern and Frank Cronin; and everyone at Atria and Simon & Schuster who looks after me, including Judith Curr, Megan Reid, David Brown, and Louise Burke. Darely Anderson and his angels in London remain the best agents a boy could ask for. Clair Lamb, minion beyond compare, acts as a voice of reason and friendship, and Madeira James and all at xuni.com keep me connected to the digital world, and try to explain concepts like the Internet to me without raising their voices. Meanwhile, Kate O'Hearn, author and good soul, took care of clearances, which sounds much easier than it actually was.

Finally, love and grat.i.tude to my partner and fellow author Jennie Ridyard, and to Cameron and Alistair. I mean, what would be the point without you all?.

Also by John Connolly.

The Charlie Parker Stories.

Every Dead Thing.

Dark Hollow The Killing Kind.

The White Road The Reflecting Eye (Novella in the Nocturnes Collection) The Black Angel.

The Unquiet The Reapers.

The Lovers The Whisperers The Burning Soul The Wrath of Angels The Wolf in Winter.

Other Works Bad Men The Book of Lost Things Short Stories.

Nocturnes The Wanderer in Unknown Realms (eBook) The Samuel Johnson Stories (For Young Adults).

The Gates h.e.l.l's Bells The Creeps.

The Chronicles of the Invaders (For Young Adults) Conquest (with Jennifer Ridyard) Empire (with Jennifer Ridyard).

Non-Fiction (as editor, with Declan Burke).

Books to Die For: The World's Greatest Mystery Writers on the World's Greatest Mystery Novels.